I bought a super clean MD UW+ a few weeks back for really good price, but as expected with any new machine, I am struggling a fair bit.
I love a good manual so I have read a hell of a lot of it while travelling, but I hope the community here could lift a brother upwards as this feels tough! If you could help, can i ask you please don’t point me at the Hector videos (despite the fact they have helped)
The MD feels really exciting and I am glad i didn’t spend my money in a more modern direction. I think I will have way more fun with this than modern Elektron boxes.
Here’s what I have managed so far, so you don’t feel I am a lost cause!
Basic architecture - all understood and building muscle memory
Designed GND machines for chords and other sounds using TONAL, but not too good at all this.
All the effects are understood (including strange MIX orientation) . Like the trashy Gate Box, especially the gate itself.
I know all the P Locks / copy paste moves from DT1, so that’s all good.
Basic use of LFO’s and using other LFO’s to effect other machines. All good.
NFX are all pretty straightforward, the COMB is great fun, the side chain is meh…
CRT-ALL and 8P - but putting them to any constructive use is difficult.
I have read comments about dropping the EQ Gain to zero to give back headroom. All good.
I tried playing with some of the patterns the last user had left but, they were all track parts, so I factory reset it, which was the best idea. I also ‘Empty Reset’ to blank the canvas.
All I ever hear are these insane glitch performances and I sit here with so many basic sound design issues that I feel I will never achieve it on my own (no music mates)… but regardless I am making progress. It’s running X.10.
The online resources I can find to help me with sound design are so few and far between. A Max Marco ‘basics’ lesson has helped a bit, but it’s not the style of music I want to write with it. I like the industrial stuff, but there’s literally nothing out there other than glitch performances. Can anyone point me at anything to help me make more randomised sounds?
The RAM and ROM machines have been such an ass. It’s brought on a massive gain staging headache. I have worked out I need to drop all the individual track / machine volumes to around 50%, turn up the ILEV to max, then turn up the MD master volume to compensate (which brings everything up), or the samples play back stupid quiet. I think I actually managed to sort this out this morning before work - is this the right move?
Sound design is tough. The stock sounds seem to range from superb to not so great, but some better understanding of manipulation is required.
No doubt I have more issues but that’s enough for now. If anyone could give me some things to read / watch or even help with a few pointers I appreciate it.
I don’t think there is an expectation to “get” the Machinedrum in only a couple of weeks. You need all the time that you need, so keep at it (if you still care) and be kind to yourself.
A few things we do:
Assign a random/noise LFOs shapes to parameters, and play with the update modes. FREE runs freely, TRIG retriggers at every trigger, then set the speed as needed. When I use a random LFO with TRIG, I set the speed to 0 so that it once a new LFO value is selected after a trig, it remains put until the next trig.
Use LFOs from other tracks to control parameters from other tracks
Record automation of parameters live and go crazy, check, rinse, repeat, adjust p-locks, etc.
Check and try out the CTR (control) machines for doing lots of chaos: continue to get to know them and maybe a use for them will be clear for your needs, but if not then that’s OK too.
They take a bit of getting used to. First of all, are you sending the outputs of the MD into the MD input - is that why you are referring to the ILEV issues?
Normally when I resample the internal MD sounds, I use the MLEV and (as I make an assumption of your case) I don’t have anything out of the MD looped back into the inputs to deal with ILEV. Therefore, with MLEV set to the middle, it records the sound as is. If I need to balance the sound from the RAM playback machine against the mix of the other tracks then I do that depending on my needs, but it’s not that complicated.
That will make the volume increasingly louder so I’d say don’t do that unless that’s what you want.
My RAM Play are set to normal volume (75%) and playing at normal volume so not sure why your’s are playing that low. Most other tracks here are somewhere near 75% too, some louder some lower.
“ILEV – Sets the level of input from the external inputs. When set to 0 the signal will be recorded “as is”. If set to a positive value the recorded signal will increase in volume compared to the original signal. If set to a negative value the recorded signal will decrease in volume.”
For randomized sounds, @error.eyes’ LFO related advice are what I would have advised myself. Here is a couple more:
If you use another track’s LFO, muting that track will “mute” the LFO effect.
Use. The. RAM. Machines.
Their logic seems unusual, but once you get it, it feels so simple and poswerful at the same time (By the way, gain staging has never been a special issue for me on the MDUW, practicing will get you there for sure). Let me try a simple way of explaining them.
To undestand them, keep in mind there are RAM buffers.
A RAM buffer is recorded by the matching RAM REC machine.
The RAM REC machine can be triggered just like any other machine, that is at any time by pressing the trig button, or whenever a sequenced trig occurs on its track. So whenever this or that happens, it will fill the RAM buffer with a sample of the incoming signal (extrernal and/or internal).
Now that the RAM buffer has been filled, you can use its content with…
… a RAM PLAY machine, which plays back the content of the matching RAM buffer.
The RAM PLAY machine can be triggered just like any other machine, that is at any time by pressing the trig button, or whenever a sequenced trig occurs on its track.
Consequently, having a track for a RAM REC machine and another one for the matching RAM PLAY machine allows you to have “sequenced record and play of the RAM buffer”…
With that only, you should be able to see how simpowerful RAM machines are
Now here are a couple more things to explore further
RAM REC machines can monitor their input and process it live as any other machine, that is with BRR, SRR, filter, FX sends etc. No need for INP machines.
RAM REC machines will record this processed signal…
Muting a RAM REC machine track will prevent the RAM REC trigs (sequenced or not) to perform the recording of the buffer.
You can have several tracks sequencing the RAM REC machine of a given buffer, meaning the sample in the buffer can be played with different filtering, FX etc at the same time.
However, with only one RAM PLAY track and parameter locks (especially on START TIME and END TIME parameters), you may be able to achieve quite random sounds, like in sample cut sounds.
Whenever a RAM buffer content pleases you, you can send it to a (permanent) ROM buffer.
Those are some points that may lead you to experiment and find your own way.
You guys are great - thanks for this. Appreciate the depth of answers and ideas to try out.
About four years ago in lock down I learned to play the banjo - the learning curve was very steep, even though I’ve played the guitar for 30 years. In its own way I feel a repeat of this with the MD. I’ve made significant progress so far and I feel committed.
I got it with the original faceplate in the box thankfully. I thought I’d leave the black one on there and maybe change it back, as I’m also taken with the original look.
I started experimenting with RAM machines by using my phone (on max volume) as a sound source, but had to max out the ILEV just to get some recording signal. . I think the issue is not having a template kit set up. Dropping individual sounds, leaving the compressor bypassed, then boosting the master volume upwards levelled everything out. Then I found the MLEV responded perfectly. That was also way too quiet before I configured it this way.
Hey! My favourite thing on the Machinedrum is the control all function. Hold function and tweak parameters of all sorts! It can truly twist the sounds beyond recognition. Tweaking any synth page parameters whilst holding the function button is the best.
You can also load a ctrl machine which will have a similar effect. Only recently started using these.
Also try loading different kits over the same patterns. Machinedrum has a super broad range of sounds, but overall it’s punchy and crunchy!
To OP:
One thing on this particular point: if you have a RAM REC that is trigged on step 1, and the corresponding RAM PLAY outputting sound, you’ll have some kind of feedback, which may or not be something you want.
If you don’t want feedback, first record, then mute record track, then unmute play track.
These REC machines are real fun, a proto-OT. I like fast retrigs and filter with exp env LFO on width, you can get some wild bass out of this!
Where is the play trigger placed? Also on Step 1?
I have been having a really difficult time of understanding how to make retriggers do something interesting.
Actually, AFAIR, the feedback occurs only if these two conditions are met on the RAM REC machine:
its input is the main out of the MD (i.e. MLEVEL is set to a reasonable value)
it monitors its input and the input is the main out (i.e. CUE1 or CUE2 -can’t remember which one- is set to a reasonable value too).
Besides, there is another thing to keep in mind for extreme RAM machine usage, something the manuel says BTW: when the sequencer is playing, the track events are scanned from track 1 to track 16. It means that if you want to use a couple of RAM PLAY and RAM REC machines with trigs on the same step, you’d better have the RAM PLAY machine on a track with a higher number.
Thank you I will definitely give that a go. I’m really struggling to get glitchy sounds to fit in with all the other sounds. It can often turn into a chaotic mess that I can’t adjust the length of…
I hear ya. Too bad that is a personal thing that no amount of gear skills can solve. That said, keep at it, take your time (it’s not a race), break things down into smaller things to learn and master then put them together slowly, and again, be kind to yourself.
Yeah absolutely - I really wasn’t sure it was for me when I first heard one, but I changed my mind and now feel strong connection, so I feel properly committed. I’ve made one complex 64 bar pattern so far! I may have another one by next week
There are no real limits on what you can do to mess up the sounds and glitch out on the Md.
It’s like a video game - go to far into the secret levels and things will go glitchy
If you push it too far , push function yes.
Or save the kit as another kit.
(despite the fact they have helped)
